


Touchdown

by bucky_at_bedtime



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College AU, F/M, Fluff, Pining, Thor is obviously a football player, but he's also a sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-07-03 01:53:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15808941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bucky_at_bedtime/pseuds/bucky_at_bedtime
Summary: Thor is the star quarterback of ‘The Asgardians’ your school team, and you’ve been friends with him for years. The two of you are blatantly unaware of each other’s feelings and frankly, your friends are sick of it. This is the story of how you finally realise you should just kiss him.





	Touchdown

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, the cheesiest name ever so I’m sorry

The bright white of a blank word document bore into your eyes, taunting you to write the goddamn essay that was due on Monday. Your fingers hovered over the keyboard, twitching in their effort to write something, but they couldn’t quite connect with your brain. You filtered through all the different ideas - the different ways to start and what topics to write about - but you couldn’t, for the life of you, settle on one idea. You squeezed your eyes shut and gently closed the laptop. You’d already written two essays today - that was probably your limit.

You had been studying for hours, but it was all worth it, because when you grabbed your phone and checked the time, you almost squealed with excitement. It was the Asgardians first game of the season and you were more than ready to let off some steam by participating in some good ol’ school-pride.

You were also looking forward to seeing Thor again - the star quarterback of the team. He and you had been friends since your first year, and it felt like you had been crushing on him since the beginning of time. You couldn’t help it - he was like a giant golden retriever puppy - he was always so kind and never let his popularity get to his head. The only problem was, he was completely clueless. The man couldn’t take a hint even if it smacked right in the face, so the two of you remained friends.

Jumping from your bed, you pulled a red jumper from your wardrobe. In big white letters on the back, it said: ‘God of Thunder,’ and you smirked to yourself as you pulled on the gift your friend, Peter, had given you at the end of last year. Peter, (or ‘Star Lord’ as he was referred on the field) had been one of your closest friends since childhood, so when he joined the college team and was initiated into the Asgardian frat house, you were looped into a crazy group of friends.

Speaking of, there were a few knocks on your bedroom door before it burst open to reveal your two roommates - Valkyrie and Gamora - soaked in team spirit. They all but bled the team colours - red, white and green ribbons were braided into their hair, matching their colourful cheerleader uniforms. The colours popped against both girls’ dark skin and you watched as they both collapsed onto your bed, shouting some sort of chant.

“Are you ready for our first win of the season?” Gamora practically yelled whilst Valkyrie cheered.

You laughed as your face was enveloped in bright strings, catching the pom pom and throwing it back at her. “Of course I’m ready,” you grinned.

In a boisterous whirlwind of red, white, and green, you were ushered out of the apartment and into Gamora’s car. Valkyrie’s ‘Pump up Anthems’ playlist was blasting through the speakers and the three of you were singing along, the nostalgia of this moment filled your chest with joy and you wanted to scream the lyrics out at the top of your lungs.

You were about 5 minutes away from the field when Gamora reached forward and turned down the music, glancing over her shoulder at your disappointed face.

“I was gonna say - nice jumper,” she smirked.

You rolled your eyes with a chuckle. “I thought you might’ve had something to do with this gift, the Quill I know would’ve gotten me a ‘Star Lord’ jumper.”

Her head fell back in laughter, knowing how true your statement was. “What can I say - I’m his better half,” she joked.

“Speaking of better halves, how is The God of Thunder?” Valkyrie asked, a sly grin on her face.

“You’re his best friend, you tell me,” you sassed, smiling at her ridiculous attempt to get you flustered.

“Well, I wasn’t the one all cuddled up to him at the party last week,” she smirked. That did it. You felt a blush rise across your neck and cheeks.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

Your mind drifted back to the last time you had seen him - a party at their frat house last week. He had pulled you into his arms when you arrived, a toothy smile on his face as a deep chuckle was pulled from his chest. His arms wrapped around you in a tight hug and you shut your eyes briefly, enjoying the moment.

“Y/n! It’s good to see you, what’s it been, 2 months?.”

You had smiled up at him, reaching up to ruffle the top of his hair. “What happened to the hair? You look like a rock star.”

Another deep chuckle sent shivers down your spine and his large hand found the small of your back, leading you towards the lounge room where the rest of the team were hanging out. Thor had always been affectionate with you - lingering touches and warm hugs only spurred on your massive crush, but you figured he was this way with everyone. He was always up for a hug.

Peter had his head in Gamora’s lap as he confidently sung along with one of his many 80s hits. Gamora would never let anyone else know, but you saw the slight movement of her lips as she hummed along. Valkyrie was already downing shots, having challenged Thor’s brother, Loki, to some sort of drinking game. She had a beer in one hand and a shot glass in the other and you watched as she and Loki clinked their glasses together, downing the vodka quickly and chasing it with a sip of beer. Those two could really hold their alcohol.

Thor picked up a beer from a bucket of ice and wiped the water off on his pants before handing it to you.

“You excited for the game next week?”

“Of course!” His hand was on the small of your back again, directing you towards a free couch. “Been training harder than ever.”

You wanted to say that you could tell - somehow he had gained even more muscle over the break and you could’ve sworn his shoulders weren’t that broad before. His biceps were hidden under a dark green jacket but you could see from the stretch of the material that he had certainly been working out. You decided to keep your mouth shut.

“Will you be there?” he asked, grinning brightly at you. How does this grown man manage to look so damn cute all the time?

“Of course I will! Would never miss seeing my boys kick some ass.” You leaned into him, nudging his chest with your elbow and his arm lifted, raising over the back of the couch and around your shoulders. Another chuckle was rumbling through his chest, sounding like quiet thunder.

The rest of the night was spent pretty much like that - his arm was wrapped around you, slowly tightening as the night went on. With every drink consumed you seemed to lean further into him, until your head was resting on his chest and his hand was on your waist. His body was warm and hard underneath your skin and you sighed in comfort, wishing you could stay like this forever.

You were too drunk the register the looks Valkyrie and Gamora kept shooting you, smirking at you intimate position with the quarterback and snickering to each other. You didn’t even find it strange when Peter shouted out; “Comfortable there, Thor?” And you certainly didn’t notice the way Thor’s heart sped up at the question, or the way he smiled down at you, or the way his grin grew even wider. “Very comfortable, yes” his deep voice filled your ears.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

“If you’re suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, then you’re still wrong,” you mumbled, leaning back in your seat. “He doesn’t like me. He couldn’t. If he did, he would’ve said something by now - I’ve been flirting with him for over a year.”

Gamora groaned from the front seat and Valkyrie scoffed, “He’s just an idiot! He thinks you’re just being friendly.”

“Did he tell you that, or are you just guessing, Val?” you grumbled, leaning your head back against the headrest, already knowing the answer.

“He’s my best friend! I know him, he doesn’t have to tell me.”

“He doesn’t have to tell anyone, we can all see it,” Gamora smirked into the rearview mirror. “Even Quill knows what’s up - and that is seriously rare.”

You shook your head at the two of them as the car pulled up to the field, and you rushed to escape the car that suddenly felt like an interrogation room. You wanted to believe them - you really did - but after getting your hopes up so many times, you really just wanted to save yourself from any more pain.

You found your way to the edge of the field. You were lucky to be friends with Gamora and Valkyrie, as they were the captain and co-captain of the cheerleading team, and always let you sit in the front row with them. It meant you didn’t have to be in the midst of a screaming, swearing crowd.

Plus, you’d never admit this to them, but it was a great view of the ‘God of Thunder.’

The team was already out on the field, warming up and doing drills. Your eyes drifted towards Thor, his helmet was tucked under his arm as he yelled towards his teammates, shouting words of endearment and encouragement. You’d always admired how happy he was - he was the kind of guy that would never hurt a fly if he could help it, and he was always so encouraging of his teammates, even when they didn’t play so well.

You felt a smile tugging at your lips as you watched him, not expecting him to look over. His eyes connected with yours and he sent you a big grin and a wink, waving enthusiastically. You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth as you smiled back, sending him a wave in response. You could feel Valkyrie and Gamora watching you, but you ignored them, focussing on the small exchange instead.

Eventually, the team retreated to the locker room, signaling the game was about to begin. In your college’s usual dramatic fashion, the announcers began to hype up the crowd, speaking through the massive speakers as music played in the background.

Next, the cheerleaders began their routine, dancing spectacularly to a remix of ‘Thunder’ by the Imagine Dragons. As the routine was coming to an end, The Asgardians joined them on the field, performing some drills with a bit more flare than before. As the song faded out and you heard the first few bars of the new song, you knew exactly what was coming, and a smirk pulled on your lips.

The screaming intro of ‘The Immigrant song’ had your side of the audience cheering in excitement until finally, Thor ran out onto the field and the bleachers erupted into a mess of screaming and clapping. He had a smile on his face, waving enthusiastically as a ball was thrown in his direction.

As the song came to an end, it was the other’s team turn to run out, and seeing as this game was being played on your school’s turf, their entry was far less extra. They still looked good though, throwing a ball between themselves as their side of the crowd cheered and good-naturedly shaking the hands of the Asgardians.

“Who are they again?” You nudged Gamora.

“They’re a new team - The Panthers,” she explained. “That’s their quarterback, his name’s M’baku - big guy. Their best player, though, is him.” she pointed to a slimmer player, a smile on his face as he waved into the bleachers. “They call him ‘Black Panther,’”

Over the loudspeaker, the commentators were beginning to reel off stats of their players whilst the teams got into position. The crowd fell into a nervous lapse of quiet, carefully watching the players’ every move.

A siren sounded across the field, and with that, the game began.

———-

“Dude, this is not going well,” you murmured to Gamora. She shot you a glare, obviously unhappy with your unhelpful (but true) commentary.

The Asgardians were losing - and it did not feel good. You weren’t sure exactly what it was - they were playing against a new team so they didn’t know their skill level or any of their tactics, the players all seemed a bit off, having just come back from break - but you were pretty sure, one of the main problems was Thor.

He was completely off his game, fumbling to make a play and was even knocked down with ease by M’baku, the other team’s quarterback. This wasn’t like him at all, and it had you worried.

The scores were: Panthers, 28 to Asgardians, 6, and every time you looked up it made you wince. Your cohort was not used to losing.

The siren for halftime rang out through the bleachers and you watched some people slump into their chairs. The teams made their way off the field, heading towards their respective locker rooms and you watched anxiously as Thor followed after them, only a few metres behind the rest of the team.

You couldn’t stop yourself from following after him.

You quietly ran up behind him, poking his back to get his attention. He turned, his eyes widening slightly when he saw you but you could see the relief flash across his features. You gestured for him to follow you, pulling him underneath the bleachers, your small hand wrapped around his wrist.

He looked like a sad puppy, a pout on his lips as a hand ran through his now short hair and his shoulders slumped in premature defeat. He perked up when you pulled him underneath the bleachers though, trying to keep a strong face for you.

“Y/n? What are you do–”

“Are you okay? You seem a little lost out there.” You interrupted his questioning. You didn’t have much time and wanted to make sure he was okay. You didn’t care about the game at this point, you just wanted to know that he was alright.

“I- I don’t know what is happening, I cannot seem to get it right. This team? They’re good, y/n.” He was trying to sound strong but his words were filled with worry and doubt and it made you want to hug him and never let go.

“So are you, Thor,” you mumbled. You hesitatingly stepped forward, wrapping your arms around neck and tracing your fingers in short hairs at the base of his neck.

“What if I can’t win this game? What if we lose the first game of the season - that’s never happened before, not while I have been on the team.” His hands snaked around your waist and he buried his face into the crook of your neck, looking for comfort. You had to remind yourself that this was just friendly - he’s just like this.

“What will happen is you’ll win the next one - or the one after that - or maybe you won’t, but that’s okay because, look at us. We’re still gonna be loyal to the team.” you breathed the words quietly, running your fingers along his spine. “Not a single person has left tonight - you might be losing, but we’re all still here, and we always will be for our boys in red.”

You could feel him smile against your shoulder and tightened your grip for a moment. “You might not win, Thor, but I’ll always be here to cheer you on.”

“You must be an angel,” he mumbled, pulling away from your neck and looking down into your eyes. You felt a blush rise onto your cheeks at his words and looked down, trying to hide how goddamn smitten you were for this man.

You heard him sigh and then his hand was on your face, cupping your jaw and forcing you to look up at him. He tilted his head down, leaning closer to you and you felt your breath hitch in your throat, your heartbeat speeding up. Was he doing what you thought he might be doing? This did not seem like a friend thing.

You could feel his warm breath fan across your lips and your eyes fluttered shut, your hand tightening on the back of his neck so that you could pull his lips towards your own an–

“Thor!? You out here?” Quill’s voice called out from the entryway and you opened your eyes just in time to see Thor’s squeeze shut in annoyance. He mumbled something along the lines of ‘Odin’s beard,’ under his breath and you felt a smile tug at your lips.

He pulled away, shooting you a look that could have meant ‘we’ll continue this later’ or ‘shit I’m sorry’ before turning and emerging from underneath the bleachers.

“Get out there. Score a touchdown for me,” you stated before Quill could see him and shot him a smile. As he walked away you pressed your fingers to your lips, trying to imitate the pressure that would’ve been there if you’d had a few more seconds. You cursed Quill under your breath, finally emerging from the bleachers to find your spot on the bench. It was going to be a long second half.

———-

It was The Asgardians’ last hope - A possible 6 points would get them up by three, they just had to make it happen. You could feel the tension in the crowd behind you, an anomalous silence had fallen over the bleachers, a few whispers of fear or encouragement occasionally breaking the barrier.

You could feel your hands get clammy and your heart in your throat as your eyes trained on Thor, his usual cheery demeanor was slightly off but he looked more determined than you had ever seen. It felt like slow motion as he yelled something you couldn’t quite make out before the ball suddenly flew into his hands.

You instinctively bought your hands up to cover your mouth, your eyes widening as you watched him run. He was barrelling through the other team’s players and you could feel a smile beginning to rise behind your hands - he was going to make it.

From behind you, the crowd began to make noise, their hands hitting their thighs in a traditional drum-roll that your school had adopted to sound like thunder. It started quietly, a few people hitting their legs or the barriers or the seats until finally the field was enveloped in the sound of thunder. You were frozen with your hands over your mouth.

Thor raced through, head jerking to the side when he noticed ‘The Black Panther’ running towards him, and in a last-ditch effort to win, he leaped off the ground his entire body stretching out towards the goal line. T’challa lept towards him, attempting to knock his body in a different direction and a collective gasp was heard from the entire crowd.

Thor had landed - he’d scored.

The bleachers behind you erupted into cheering and screaming before you could even register what happened and milliseconds later, the final siren rang out across the field. The loud ringing shook you from your moment of shock and you felt a smile pulling across your face. Thor was still on the ground and you could see the look of relief painted across his features.

You don’t know what came over you, but suddenly you were up from your seat. The cheerleaders were already performing a celebration routine and you felt yourself swerve past them, catching a confused look from Valkyrie. Your legs seemed to have a mind of their own as they began to push faster with each step, running across the field.

Your eyes were still on Thor as he pushed himself up from the ground, oblivious to your movements as he proudly brushed himself off, pulling the helmet off his head and revealing his short, messy hair.

By now, your legs were pushing as fast as they could and you watched as Quill turned to look at you first, confusion flashing across his features. Next, it was Scott Lang, another player on the team, his brow furrowing before he pointed at you.

Finally, Thor turned, his head tilted to the side slightly in a silent question and suddenly all you could do was hope that he caught you as your feet left the ground, leaping towards ‘The God of Thunder.’

Your lips were on his in a desperate, bruising kiss before you could even think about anything else and your arms found their way around his neck, holding yourself up on his broad shoulders. You felt his hands instinctively wrapping around you, one on your thigh and the other around your waist, holding you to him.

Your legs were wrapped around his waist and one of your hands moved to cup his jaw as he held you up and you could feel his lips pressing back with earnest, kissing you like there was nothing else in the entire world - like this was all he needed and he put everything he had behind this kiss.

For a moment, the world fell silent around you. You pulled your lips away, pressing your forehead against his and it all came back in - the cheering, the clapping, the screaming - it was like your own mini touchdown and you could feel a grin pulling across your face as your eyes connected with his, your chest heaving from the kiss and the run.

His breath was heavy, too, and his hand on your back adjusted, holding you tighter to him.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a very long time,” he whispered, his warm breath fanning over your lips.

You breathed out a laugh, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips at the statement. You didn’t want to leave his arms - you didn’t want to face Gamora’s and Valkyrie’s and– oh god, Quill’s teasing. You just wanted to stay like this - suspended in Thor’s arms.

That idea was quickly ruined though, as Quill’s voice penetrated the bubble that you and Thor seemed to be in.

“Jeez, it’s about fucking time!” he hollered, pulling his helmet off and glaring amusedly at the two of you, still tangled together.

You breathed out another laugh, and this time Thor joined in, his deep chuckle sending shivers down your spine as he released your thigh, gently placing you down on the field. You turned to face Peter, grabbing the ball from where it had been dropped next to Thor’s feet and piffing it as hard as you could in Quill’s direction.

“If you hadn’t interrupted at halftime I wouldn’t have had to wait another 30 minutes,” you grumbled. Thor chuckled behind you, wrapping his arms around your shoulders.

“The rest of us have been waiting for a whole damn year!” Valkyrie’s voice interrupted as she ran towards you all, shaking her head at you. “I told you!” she yelled.

You smirked, thinking back to all the times she had claimed Thor liked you back. “I don’t recall that,” you quipped.

Next thing you knew, the ball was thrown back at you, and you erupted into laughter at the angry look on Gamora, Valkyrie and Quill’s faces.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr @bucky-at-bedtime to read more!


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